It’s the middle of January and you’re on Whole 30. There is no salad in the world that will complete your life today. It’s actually snowing buckets here in northern Minnesota as I write this post, so I felt nothing was going to cut it for Day 18 like a hearty, homemade soup. Enter—>Italian Wedding Soup
I love soup. Like really love soup. To me it’s a good reason to clean out the crisper drawer of the refrigerator and use up all the vegetables that are looking a little sad these days.
Soups are a great way to eat a highly nutritious meal and get a major daily dose of nutrition without just eating boring vegetables!
However, if I am going to eat soup, it needs to be hearty and satisfying. You know, the types that are soul-satisfying and leave you feeling super full. And guess what? Since we’ve lifted our ultra-hefty restrictions of Whole 30 and are doing Paleo now, I’ll go ahead and green light the addition of a few grain-free crackers on the side of this soup. Yum!
Let me introduce you to this amazing Italian Wedding Soup that I’ve deconstructed and then reconstructed to make it Whole 30 approved.
Traditional Italian Wedding Soup includes parmesan cheese and flour in the meatball mixture. We had to replace those ingredients in this soup and honestly, I think it tastes just as good as the original. I did include a recipe for homemade meatballs below. If you have a little time, it’s totally worth making these little meatballs on your own. If you are pressed for time or making meatballs isn’t your thing, buy a pre-made frozen bag of meatballs at your grocery store, but check the ingredient list. Make sure there isn’t anything ‘funky’ in there.
Once you make this soup, it’ll become one you come back to again and again. It’s a good soup to double or triple-batch as well. I’m actually doubling it today and serving it after our skiing adventures! And, if you need to look back at the previous recipes you’ve made so far this month, because you’ve come a long way, baby, click HERE for the Clean Eating Recipe Series.
Until next time…Eat Well. Travel Often. Love Much.
xoxo
Italian Wedding Soup
This traditional Italian Wedding Soup gets a make-over to make it Whole 30 approved! You'll fall in love with the delicious homemade meatballs and loads of savory flavor coming from the vegetables and stock. Just as good as the original, but a lot healthier!
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1/2 pound lean ground pork
- 1/2 yellow onion, *very* finely chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 large egg
- 2 T. coconut aminos
- 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 T. almond flour
- Kosher salt + freshly ground black pepper
- Soup:
- 2 T. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup diced celery
- 2 cups peeled and diced carrots
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 8-10 cups chicken stock
- Kosher or sea salt + freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups baby spinach or kale
Directions
- Step 1 Make the meatballs–Combine all of the ingredients for the meatballs in a large bowl and gently stir to combine all of the ingredients. Add a few tablespoons of water if the mixture is not “sticking” together. (I find that I usually add 1-2 T. water to get it sticky)
- Step 2 Form the meat into bite-sized meatballs and place on a rimmed baking sheet. I use a small cookie scoop to keep them uniform in size. Cover & refrigerate until soup portion is ready.
- Step 3 Heat the olive oil in large stockpot over medium heat. Saute the carrots and celery and onion for about 5-7 minutes until the vegetables start to soften.
- Step 4 Pour in the chicken stock, starting with 8 cups and add the salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium (a rolling simmer) and add the meatballs to the soup mixture. Cover and cook the soup for about 8-10 minutes until the meatballs start to float to the top and are cooked through. Add the remaining 2 cups of chicken stock if you’d like the consistency to be more ‘soupy.’
- Step 5 Stir in the kale or spinach and cook until it’s wilted, about 3-5 minutes. Enjoy!
Looks delish! Can’t wait to try it!
Thank you; I hope you enjoy it!